


Sightless Snarls

by ItFlare



Series: FE3H Hybrid AU [3]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Animal Ears, Animal Traits, Blood, M/M, Wolf hybrid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-08
Updated: 2020-02-08
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:49:11
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,699
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22613605
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ItFlare/pseuds/ItFlare
Summary: There's a scent in the air that stops Sylvain dead in his tracks.It smells a bit like Faerghus, a lot like Felix, and definitely (kinda?) like light magic and horses.“Rodrigue!” he exclaims before the older wolf walks into view.--Lord Rodrigue bring news from the kingdom. Felix is plagued by the students reaction to his fathers presence. Sylvain just wants to take care of his pack.
Relationships: Felix Hugo Fraldarius/Sylvain Jose Gautier
Series: FE3H Hybrid AU [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1544089
Comments: 18
Kudos: 68





	Sightless Snarls

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome back!!
> 
> This is supposed to take place after Snapping Teeth but can be read on its own.
> 
> A quick shoutout to Becca OFR BEING THE VERY BEST AND LISTENING TO ME BEMOAN THIS FIC AND READING IT FOR ME YOURE THE BESTBESTBESTBESTBESTBEST

There's a scent in the air that stops Sylvain dead in his tracks.

He’s walking out of the dining hall with a girl on his arm when something familiar catches his nose. He stops immediately, black tipped ears falling back as he closes his eyes to properly scent the air. It's hard to find anything specific over the hundreds of other smells wafting through the area. There's people everywhere, the dining hall was brimming with spices and cooked meats and his latest tryst was wearing a perfume that made his eyes water if he breathed too deeply in her direction. 

He catches it again, just a smidge of it. Whatever it is makes his tail sway slightly behind him.

It smells a bit like Faerghus, a lot like Felix, and definitely (kinda?) like light magic and horses.

“Rodrigue!” he exclaims before the older wolf walks into view. 

Rodrigue notices him immediately, greeting him by clasping his forearm. His grip is strong, meant to size the red wolf up. Sylvain secretly winces at himself hoping whatever amount of muscle the Duke feels is adequate enough to keep him from receiving a disappointed letter from home. 

“Sylvain! Greetings. How are you, my boy?”

“I’m great. How was the trip?”

Rodrigue’s nose wrinkles before he has a chance to answer. Black ears flick back before righting themselves to a more proper less bothered position and Sylvain suddenly remembers the girl he’d left hanging on his arm.

“Oh! Yes, this is  _ uh _ ... My friend!” 

Rodrigues brow raises at the obvious blunder. 

_ “..Friend?”  _ he echoes suspiciously.

“Yeah! Hey, uh.. You should go on ahead. I’ll catch up with you later?”

His ears tip downward and  _ Leighla? Layla?? Veronica??? _ -humphs vexatiously before pushing Sylvain’s arm away and stomping off.

Goddess, he’s going to hear about this later. Either from Ingrid or whatever group of girls the Alliance noble was friends with and probably through a long impassionately worded letter from his father.

_ Shit. _

The look Rodrigue gives him forces his ears to fall further. His tail wags lowly behind him. He’s no longer the lanky pup standing side by side with Felix receiving a tongue lashing in the Dukes study but in this moment he might as well be. The sigh he receives is all too familiar. So is the cool almost glare that, out of a public space, would be far more disappointed and exasperated. 

It reminds him that the Fraldarius resemblance is both uncanny and terrifying. Moreso the last part.

Sylvain doesn’t whimper but he kinda wants to. He also doesn’t lay belly up but a growing part of him is far too tempted.

_ “.. _ So I see not much has changed since I last saw you.” 

Sylvain’s not sure if he’s expected to answer or not so he shrugs his shoulders instead. The movement must shift the collar of his jacket just so because suddenly a gloved hand is pushing the fabric out of the way and  _ unmistakably not _ dark amber eyes are looking deeply into his.

“Who did this to you?” Rodrigue speaks lowly with a hint of a growl in his voice. Sylvain’s ears press back and he has to take a moment to right himself.

“I- It was Felix.”

“Felix?”

“We were sparring and it- well. We started wrestling.” 

The dark glare weakens slightly “..Why is it so close to your neck.”

Sylvain swallows at the memory of Felix warm and whiny beneath him. The marks had mostly faded since then and the scabs had all healed up. All that remained was a dotted crescent shape of bruises and an ever burning fire blazing in his chest every time Sylvain was around the growly pup. 

“You know how bitey Felix gets when you get him riled up.”

Rodrigue searches his face long enough to have Sylvain’s ears trembling to stay in an upright position. He hadn’t lied,  _ technically(okay, he had) _ , but Rodrigue was always good at sniffing out the truth. Maybe it's a dad thing. Or maybe it's because Sylvain had spent plenty of time being sent to the corner when Rodrigue or his father had found out whatever nonsense he had gotten himself and the other kids into as a child. The black wolf sighs. He almost looks relieved as he corrects Sylvain’s collar and Sylvain is far more confused than he lets on. 

“Hmm..” Rodrigue’s eyes stay on his throat before looking away “I had always hoped he would grow out of that.”

Sylvain almost laughs “You’re not the only one.” 

_ Thank Sothis he hadn’t. _

They make small talk after that, discussing the territories and goings on back home. He notices that Rodrigue is careful not to mention why he’d made the long trip to the monastery. Sylvain’s smart enough not to ask. The Duke inquires how Sylvain is adjusting to the business of the monastery and Sylvain answers honestly, making sure to leave out the more lewd parts and how he’d made out with Felix then cuddled with him on the floor until dinner that same night after making the younger hybrid cream his pants.

When The Duke finally excuses himself Sylvain has to stop himself from sprinting out of the building to find Felix.

\--

Felix isn’t on the training grounds or around the dining hall. He isn’t in the classrooms or any of the courtyards and Sylvain is tempted to howl for him but he’d rather not have half the canine population of Garreg Mach poking their heads out of windows and corridors or asking  _ why  _ he needed to find the black wolf. 

The less attention that was brought to all of this the better.

He knows The Duke will seek Felix out eventually. Probably not right away, knowing how detached Rodrigue had been when it came to familial priority, but at some point he would ask about his son's whereabouts with the intention to speak with him. 

Sylvain wanted to make sure Felix had some choice in the matter. Or at least a bit of a heads up. The Dukes previously estimated time of arrival was still days off and Felix didn't take too well to surprises when it came to his father.

They’d known that Lord Rodrigue would be making a trip to the monastery. He’d written ahead, telling Felix that he would be making haste and to be prepared to come back to the territory temporarily if the situation called for it. Whatever the situation was it was bad enough that it must be kept tightly under wraps since he’d neglected to give any information on it. 

That alone and the lack of correspondence from his own father was more than enough to leave the red wolf a bit on edge. 

Felix’s subtle shift in mood was also a concern. The wolf had been in less than savory state since he’d shown Sylvain the letter. To someone who didn’t know Felix as well it probably wasn’t so obvious. Fe was always moody and prickly to others so it wasn’t out of the ordinary for him to bare a fang or growl,  _ especially  _ towards Dimitri nowadays. But Sylvain wasn’t just anyone. He saw the subtle tightness in Felix’s jaw and the now constant downward arch of his brow causing the pointed ears on his head to press back tightly when he was lost in thought. He heard the disconcerting hint of a growl coloring his words. It was probably too subtle for any human to detect but the quiet rumbles would echo through Sylvain’s sensitive ears.

Any attempt Sylvain made to reach out was met with bitter posturing and a glare so sharp he feared for the length of his tail. The distressing air of  _ Leave me alone!  _ hung heavily around the hybrid. Sylvain was at a loss. All he could do was give Felix the space he demanded while making sure the pup didn’t isolate himself beyond reach. 

Felix would come back when he was ready. He always did. Even if Sylvain had to gently(and probably  _ discreetly _ ), herd him in the right direction.

He finally finds Felix tucked into a back corner of the library with the professor acting as a wall between him and the other occupants. They’re bent over a large map with an open book laying beside it on the table. The professor's finger points to a part of the map before moving to the book to circle a paragraph of text. Amber eyes follow, skimming the page briefly before widening. The wolf’s ears jump to attention before relaxing when a small smile graces his features. Sylvain doesn’t miss the gentle wag of his dark tail behind him or that it's pace picks up when Byleth pats Felix's shoulder.

There's a sudden warmth in Sylvain's chest. He places a hand over his heart in a weak attempt to ebb it's flow. He fails to notice his quivering ears or the twitterpated little wags of his tail. 

He's always liked Felix but in moments like these he wonders just how deeply he feels for the untamable pup. It's unnerving but only so much that it forces him to pay attention to his words. No lies or big secrets between them. At least not on Sylvain's part. He's pretty sure he knows all of Felix's tells though, it's difficult not to notice how expressive his body had always been. The kid is horrible at reeling in the constant posturing.

The goofy smile falls off his face as soon as a loud “I get it!” comes from Ashe and Annettes shared table. The entire library seems to jump with the sudden proclamation and Felix’s eyes fall on Sylvain with an unhappy growl. Byleth turns in his direction looking far less severe.

_ Well there goes that… _

A much quieter  _ “Sorry!”  _ comes from the same table followed by shushing and Ashe stuttering "O-oh, goodness." under his breath with a low whine. Linhardt sighs deeply from the upper level.

“What do  _ you _ want?” Felix snarls as a greeting. Sylvain ignores it loping over and opting to put on his smoothest smile for the professor instead.

“Good afternoon, Professor. You’re looking lovely as always.” he winks for added effect and leans against the table. He places a hand over Felix’s wrist without looking and, as expected, Felix growls pulling his arm away.

Byleth eyes them both in that neutral all seeing way of hers. It's unnerving because she just  _ gets _ shit, but never shit Sylvain especially wants to talk about even though it's been proven that maybe he  _ should _ . That doesn’t mean he needs to but  _ probably.  _ Maybe.

_ Or not. _

It makes it hard to keep up the cool facade but eventually she blinks and raises an eyebrow in question.

“Sylvain?”

Her somehow neutral tone is both questioning and lacking in the bullshit department which coincidentally cuts right through his. He looks back at Felix whos bristling in his chair and he feels his tail wilt just the tiniest bit.

"I just needed to talk to Felix real quick.. And see you of course."

Byleth ignores the obvious flirtation and looks back at Felix's visibly unhappy glower. Her eyes quickly pass over slightly downturned ears and the bothered slope of his shoulders before coming back to Sylvain. 

"I see. Well then.. that's enough for today." She closes the book and starts gathering up the map, pausing to place her hand on Felix's shoulder. His ears tense before relaxing "You did well today, Felix." Amber eyes look up quickly before veering off to the side. "You'll do fine on the test tomorrow." 

"...Thank you."

She finishes folding up the map, seemingly ready to walk away until she turns and grabs the red wolf by the fabric of his jacket sleeve.

_ "Behave." _

It's spoken low enough for only a hybrid to hear. It's said without crossness or judgement but the warning is there.

His eyes widen for less than a second before the mask goes back on. He smirks at her and her grip loosens. 

"Oh come on, Professor Byleth. You know me, I'll take good care of him." 

He swears he can see the slightest ghost of a smile on her face as she pats his arm murmuring a quick "I know." before heading toward Annette and Ashes table. 

It takes him a second to collect himself but eventually he turns back towards Felix. The look he gets from the younger hybrid would melt the face off any lesser man or wolf alike. Thankfully years of exposure had given him an awfully thick skin.

"That's a real special lady right there."

And a death wish, apparently.

"Shut up, you philandering fool." 

" _ Fe- _ " 

"Why are you  _ bothering _ me?"

He tries to keep the playful look on his face.

"Oh, come on, Fe. Can't a guy just pop in to talk to his best friend?"

" _ No." _

"I- alright." Sylvain sighs. 

_ Of course. _

It's mostly quiet behind him but Sylvain surveys the room with feigned nonchalance. Black tipped ears swivel in every direction long enough for him to figure out that Byleth is tutoring Ashe through another battalion movement exercise on a different map while Annette cheers him on, a monk is near the entrance searching through the historical section and Linhardt is quietly napping on the second level.

He may be acting a bit paranoid, everyone will hear about it eventually, but Sylvain wants Felix to be the first to know about Lord Rodrigues presence on the monastery grounds. The news will soon get out that _The_ Shield of Faerghus has arrived and the student body will be all atwitter. The knights will stand in awe while the ladies swoon over the Fraldarius good looks and the lords valiant personality. Everyone will gush over how great he is and Felix..

_ Well Felix he- _

“I ran into your father.”

“What? You're lying! There's no way he could be here yet.”

“I’m serious, Fe. Smell me.”

Felix balks at the forearm thrust in his face before leaning in and scenting the skin. He pulls back abruptly and bares his teeth at it before shaking his head. Within seconds the leftover books and supplies on the table are hastily shoved into his bag. The dark expression on his face is unreadable, it worries Sylvain. All of this does.

When Felix stands to leave he catches him by the elbow.

_ “Fe-” _

“Let me go!”

He immediately pulls away.

The professor watches him walk out with ears pressed tightly against blueblack hair. She stands at full height before turning toward Sylvain. He tries to keep it together, keep that laid back grin on his face, but the way the professor tilts her head when she eyes his ears tells him he’s not doing a very good job. He shrugs at her ( _ What are you gonna do?) _ and winks as he passes her by. He’s sure she has something to say, questions to ask, maybe another warning because goddess knows Sylvain gets plenty of those. Byleth stays quiet. Instead, she looks towards the door then back at him before giving another questioning look that slowly turns to what's probably disappointment when the red wolf waves her off. It’s nothing new.

Sylvains not surprised by it but still.. Well..

He doesn’t see Felix for the rest of the day.

\--

Felix shows up for class the next day and the day after that as well. 

He’s cagey and pent up, anger and discontentment showing in the flat line of his ears and the raised fur on his tail. 

The other hybrids give him a wide berth. They see his posturing and know not to engage. Many of the humans don’t understand this. They sit too close and ask too many questions. They’re curious now that they’ve seen his father,  _ the living legend _ , a name that would forever be etched into their holy kingdoms history. 

A human noble asks Felix about his dad and whatever he says has her running past Sylvain down the hallway in tears. Later the older wolf has to step in and bare his fangs back at Felix who had snapped his teeth at another nosey student. Well meaning and kind, Dimitri asks him what's wrong. The exchange goes so horribly that Byleth demands Felix remove himself from the classroom for the rest of the day. 

Dimitri feels awful. Dedue is almost asked to leave as well. Felix is given extra chores for the week as punishment.

After that the professor runs the hybrid ragged during drills. The intense exercise and one on one training with Byleth seemed to beat the hate out of the hybrid at least for a little while. The purple black bruising Sylvain sees in the bath house is proof of it. The marks are concerning but Sylvain knows Felix thrives under that type of..  _ Intensive  _ care. He doesn’t like it but he gets it. 

It makes something bristle deep within the red wolf. He so badly wants to take care of his pack.

And possibly punch Felix in the face as well.

\--

Inevitably Ingrid involves herself.

Just as inevitably, it doesn’t go well.

He finds her in the dining hall glaring down at her plate before tearing into a chicken leg with such ferocity he feels the need to keep all extremities at least a foot away. She sighs deeply when he sits down. Honestly, when he hears it part of him wants to stand right back up and find a new table. He knows what that sound means and it usually doesn’t bode well for him. Sylvain briefly wonders if she’d met up with that Alliance girl  _ (Victoria?)  _ or one of her friends yet.

_ Yikes. _

Instead of tucking tail and making a strategic switch to another table he takes a brief beseeching look up toward the goddess and gives Ingrid's shoulder a friendly nudge.

“What is it, Sylvain?”

_ Definitely angry… _

“I know that sigh.”

Her angry chewing intensifies. He can hear her molars clicking and grinding together in a way he’s sure is absolutely not healthy. If he were sitting next to any other human he’d consider sliding the plate away to slow the enamel breakage and to get her attention. He doesn’t because he’d like to keep both his hands  _ thank you very much,  _ and because that would pull her attention from whatever it is she’s angry about which, looking back on the past few days, is probably-

”Oh that  _ Felix!” _ She grits out. What's left of the chicken leg falls to the plate with a clatter. She grabs her fork to mercilessly stab at her broccoli. Sylvain tries to hold in a very Ingrid-esque sigh. “I swear, one day he’s going to mouth off to the wrong person.”

“What’d he say this time?”

_ What didn’t he say is more like it… _

Ingrid huffs, shoves multiple pieces of broccoli into her mouth and swallows without chewing. It's not very ladylike (when has she  _ ever  _ been and  _ when _ has it mattered?) and probably not too healthy but somehow Caspar is still alive so he leaves it alone. 

She finishes by dropping both utensils onto the plate. The sharp sound hurts his ears a little bit but she doesn’t seem to notice, too deep in her anger and nondescript gesturing at nothing in particular.

“Lord Rodrigue has been here for three days.  _ Three. Days. _ And Felix has not so much as spoken a word to him! Can you believe that?”

Sylvain smiles tiredly.

He can. 

He very much can. 

“It’s like he's avoiding him! This is such a rare opportunity to see his family. Why doesn’t he take advantage of it?”

Sylvain doesn’t answer that. It’s really not his place.

“And he just..  _ Doesn’t take it! _ It makes no sense!”

_ It does. _

His smile deflates even further.

“Is this what you're so angry about?”

She huffs. He spoons some of his vegetables onto her plate to placate the beast known as Ingrid's Ravenous Appetite. An entirely  _ not _ unnecessary eye roll later ( _ heavy on the sarcasm here, thank you _ ) Ingrid stabs through another unsuspecting broccoli stem.

“You need to eat vegetables to you know.”

He deadpans.

“Ignoring that you're saying that  _ while  _ you're eating my vegetables, you still haven’t told me why you're so upset. There's gotta be more to it than that.”

Another stab. Three more broccolis down.

“I talked to Felix.”

_ There it is. _

_ “.. _ Of course you did.”

She glares. Sylvain tries to pretend his traitorous ears stay upright.

“Well  _ someone  _ has to say something!”

“So what did  _ he  _ say?”

“I’m sure you already know.”

_ Kinda. _

“I don’t. That's why I’m asking.”

Yet another sigh. Ingrid pushes her now twice emptied plate away.

“I ran into Lord Rodrigue earlier today and he asked if I'd seen Felix. He said that when he spoke to the professor she told him Felix was out at the moment and probably wouldn’t be back for some time.”

Sylvain’s tail wags a little at that. Thankfully Ingrid doesn’t notice.

_ Good old Professor. _

“I have no idea what that's about, but I told him that I would relay the message to Felix when I next saw him.”

“So what happened when you found him?”

“I’m getting to that, Sylvain.” She swipes a bite of venison from his plate. He lets it happen.

“When I told him his father was looking for him, he got angry and told me to mind my own business.  _ Typical.  _ I asked him why he was avoiding Lord Rodrigue and he told me to stay out of it.”

“Did you?”

_ “Sylvain!” _

“So you didn’t.”

The sharp point of Ingrid’s dinner knife being thrust towards his face isn't completely unexpected. He swallows.

“If you would  _ let. Me. Finish.”  _ each word is accompanied by a small jab in the air, “Then I could tell you.”

He holds his hands up in surrender.

“The stage is yours.”

“Thank you.  _ As I was saying  _ before I was so  _ rudely _ interrupted, I told him that he needs to stop being a brat and go speak to his father. He has no reason to avoid him like this.”

“...Ingrid.”

“Lord Rodrigue is a  _ great _ man. I just don’t understand Felix’s hatred for him.”

_ “ _ He doesn’t hate his father, Ingrid.”

“Then what could it be? I just don’t understand?”

_ And that's the catch… _

Black tipped ears fall and Sylvain does his best to hide his disappointment... He’d been worried this would happen. 

“Ingrid I.. Well, I know you mean well, I get it. I really do. You always do. But you're right, you  _ don’t  _ understand.”

She gives him a challenging look. If it were any other time he’d probably back down and let her go on doing the  _ Ingrid Thing  _ she does where she just goes off and fixes things. His things, mostly. Girl things, specifically.

But this isn’t one of  _ those  _ things. This is something she truly doesn’t understand and no matter her intention, will only make things worse.

Ingrid raises a blonde eyebrow in question.

“You said it yourself,  _ you don’t get it.  _ But I  _ do.” Mostly. _ “So.. Well.. I guess what I'm saying is let me take care of it this time.”

She pauses seeming to contemplate his words before looking toward the semi flat red to black wolf ears atop his head. She searches his face.

“ _ You  _ take care of it? You're telling me  _ you’ll _ take care of it?”

“Oh, come one. I’m not that bad. I know how to handle Felix.”

“Is this one of those wolf things I’ll never understand?”

“Uh..” he stops “..I don’t think so?” he shakes his head “Anyways. Just.. I got this okay? I’ll talk to him.”

It's silent for a moment before Ingrid lets out another one of her signature soul expelling sighs. She stacks her cup and plate then stands to leave.

“You promise?”

Sylvain’s not sure if it's more of a question or a thinly veiled threat.

“Cross my heart.” a claw crosses beneath his left collar bone “I’ll take care of him.”

“You better.”

He smiles “Have I ever not?”

This time the knife points at his throat. He yelps again, much higher than the last time.

“I’m _serious,_ Sylvain. He’s not one of your play things. Take this seriously. _Or else._ ” With her not so thinly veiled threat, she turns to leave.

He’s not sure what the  _ Or else  _ entails but well...

Sylvain’s got this, he knows.

He’s not good at dealing with his own feelings but he can deal with others just fine.

\--

He doesn’t have to go looking for Felix this time.

Sylvains standing outside the greenhouse, near the brickwall facing the dock. There's two girls in front of him,  _ beautiful  _ as all get out and  _ very much _ into the whole puppy thing. They’re smiling and giggling, each with a hand petting his red and black ears. His head is ducked down so they can reach and his tail wags at the attention. They’re both so  _ pretty,  _ and if he plays his cards right,  _ definitely  _ up for a threesome. He’d seen these two together before. Very close and  _ extremely  _ touchy. Too touchy to be  _ just friends  _ but just touchy enough with him to prove their interest. 

**_Goddess_ ** _ how perfect? _

He whines purposefully, high and puppylike, then ducks his head further to look bashful. Both girls coo at him, and his tail wags harder at the desired effect.

"Goddess, Sylvain. You must really like that."

“Does it feel good?”

He hums.

It feels alright. They're being too soft handed and he wishes they’d use those long manicured nails all imperial noble women seem so fond of. If they did it just right he’d melt. But they don’t know that and he probably won’t tell them.

_ Let them have their fun and feel good for a minute, yeah? _

Instead he smiles, playing it up and closing his eyes. He tips his head to the side, letting his mouth open with a sigh. It incites a giggle from one of the girls, another coo from the other. He should probably ask for their names but now would be a weird time and he’s pretty sure they're too far in for him not receive a well aimed heel to the foot. The hand thumbing at the back of his ear moves to gently cup his cheek. The other continues petting. When he opens his eyes they’re met with another heated gaze. He knows that look,  _ lives  _ for it some days, and does his best to return it. 

“You're cute, Sylvain.”

He smirks. The happy wag of his tail slows to something less obvious.

“That's really something coming from someone as cute as you.”

His quick wink is well received. He wants to run his tongue over his fangs and growl but that's not the angle these beauties play for. They keep looking at him then towards each other and making the most subtle quirks of their brows and lips. There's a smile shared so he decides to bring the attention back on himself by turning his face toward the hand on his cheek and lightly pressing his lips against it. It's done slowly and softly, whiskey brown eyes making contact with both blue and gold. The ladies both take deep breaths and Sylvain almost smiles at a job well done.

“Sylvain?”

“Yes, Beautiful?”

There's a pause where the girls give each other one last affirming glance.

“Would you like to hang out with us in Seiya’s room later?”

_ Perfect. _

Sylvain opens his mouth to speak when a sudden snarl in the distance makes the wolf pull his head back. His ears peek forward, shoulders jumping because he  _ knows _ that sound, been on the receiving end of it far too many times, and sometimes even  _ liked _ it. The growl that follows isn't unexpected but the ferocity in it makes Sylvain take a step away from the ladies and toward the angry outline of Felix squaring his shoulders at another student in the distance. Said student is holding up both hands in surrender, slowly backing away from the irate wolf in front of him.

He can’t really make out what the kid is saying but what he  _ can  _ see is perfectly pointed fangs and a long black tail bristling behind him. Usually Sylvain would take a moment to appreciate the cute little mohawk that rippled down Felix’s tail when he was angry but the way said appendage and shoulders were postured made his own curl with worry. Felix is angry (always _ always _ **_always_ ** _ so fucking angry)  _ but the missing upward curve of his tail is telling. It trembles to stay straight, curling downward near its end. His ears sit uneasily, not facing forward in an intimidating show of the pups unending fire. 

There's something else under all that fury.

Felix lets out one last warning growl before turning to stomp away from the other student. He’s heading toward the upper dorms, probably from the training grounds. Sylvain sniffs the oncoming breeze and confirms his theory. The smell of Felix is there but not as strong as it should be after his usual workout.

There's something odd about this whole thing. Felix isn’t usually one to break his rigid training schedule he keeps partially so he can secretly make sure his training time, at least somewhat, aligns with Dimitri’s. Dimitri who he pretends to hate, who is most definitely not on the training grounds at this time to unintentionally rile Felix up, so there's really no reason for Fe not to be in the middle of beheading another poor straw dummy with his practice sword. He knows this because he’s memorised all of his closest friends schedules and if the mental checklist he keeps in his head is correct and the sun is where it should be, he should be at peak girl time. 

_ Speaking of.. _

“..Sylvain?”

_ Shit _

“Ladies,  _ hey… _ ” He slips on a careful smile, “I uh.. I have to go but-” the cross looks he receives aren’t entirely unexpected. He makes sure to droop his ears and wag his tail with a pout he hopes is cute enough to placate them “I’d love to see you another time though?”

He rushes off before they have time to answer, an exasperated  _ “Sylvain!”  _ nipping at his heels.

This isn’t..  _ Ideal _ .

But well… He has more important things to take care of. 

_ Always more important. _

He catches Felix as the younger wolf ascends the stairs leading to their dorms. His shoulders are hunched, both fists clenched at his sides. He refuses to look in the red wolf's direction. 

Sylvain does his best to ignore the little sting of hurt in his chest.

“Fe.”

Felix’s shoulders tighten, tail vibrating as he attempts to staunch it's curling.

“Felix, what's wrong?”

Sylvain grabs Felix by the shoulder and barely dodges the sudden swipe of claws aimed at his chest. A wet snarl follows with gleaming white fangs being bared in his direction.

“Leave. Me.  _ Alone _ .”

“But,  _ Fe-” _

_ “Go away!” _

In the hallway a door slams shut, another closes after a loud clacking rhythm of heels bangs against the floorboards. 

Frustration burns deep in Sylvains chest. His tail bristles with the heat of it and he does his best to suppress a growl. Felix presses onward past Ingrid’s room then beyond Marianne and Hilda’s. Sylvain carefully follows a few feet behind.

“Come on, Fe. What's going on?”

Felix lets out another warning growl. His ears are folded backwards and fluttering but he quickens his pace and advances down the hall regardless of Sylvain’s pleading.

“You can’t just keep baring your teeth and shutting everybody out Felix!"

"Hmph!"

"You've been an ass to everyone this entire week!"

Dark ears flatten further. Sylvain feels his upper lip curl back in frustration.

"People  _ care _ about you!”

Sylvain’s words freeze Felix’s feet in place. He whips around to face the red wolf and almost trips over himself in the process. His glare lacks it's usual heat and his jaw trembles. Felix opens his mouth to speak but presses his lips tightly together instead. His nose wrinkles and normally pale cheeks are blotched with red, amber eyes glassy and-  _ Oh. _

Sylvain feels his heart break just a little bit.

“ _ Fuck  _ **_you_ ** _ ,  _ Sylvain!”

Felix huffs, turning to rush in the direction of their rooms.

“Fe, wait!”

Somethings.. Not right.

_ Felix doesn’t- _

_ Well not  _ **_anymore._ **

By the time Sylvain catches up to him Felix is already near the end of the hallway. He’s rushing to unlock his door when Sylvain’s hand pulls at his shoulder again and he immediately shoves him away. 

“Fe,  _ please _ -”

“Get away from me!”

“But-”

_ “No!  _ What don't you understand?" __

More snarling, another shove. Sylvain’s ears wilt atop his head.

_ Everything.. _

“Stop saying my name! I told you to leave me alone!”

“I’m _ worried _ about you! Everyone is.”

The look he receives pulls at something in his chest. The salty tears pooling at the edge of red rimmed eyes elicit another painful tug on his heart. Felix blinks them away to replace them with a deep rumble. A look of loathing covers his rare show of vulnerability. There's a forced bark of laughter as Felix sneers.

“ _ Hah! _ They don’t give a  _ damn _ about me, nor do  **_you_ ** _ , Gautier.”  _

Sylvain takes a sudden step back, a look of hurt covering his face.

The way Felix spat his name...

“But.. But  _ Fe..” _

_ But he- _

_ How could he not _ **_know_ ** _? _

Felix sniffs “Save your breath.” there's a click as he turns his key to unlock the door.

“..But you're wrong.”

Another derisive snort. A poorly concealed sniffle.

“About  _ what _ Sylvain? About the fact that everyone who looks in my direction can’t see past a burnt corpse?”

_ “Felix,  _ thats not- _ ” _

“Don’t  _ patronize  _ me, you wretch. You make me sick! You might be the worst out of them all. At least they have some form of ideals, even if they're entirely misguided. What do you fight for? A warm hole? Don't pretend to care about me. Go back to your  _ playthings _ .”

An ugly growl bursts forth from Sylvain’s curled back lips. He angrily shoves Felix into his door slamming his chest into the wood. Felix grunts on impact, snarling as he tries to turn his body toward the red wolf only to bite his tongue when Sylvain’s hand forces his cheek against the door. He snaps his teeth at the weight of Sylvains larger form against his back. 

“Shut. Up.” Sylvain rumbles in his ear. Felix pushes back against him and jerks his head when Sylvain nips him on the ear. “You're wrong. You're  _ wrong _ , Felix!” 

_ How could he? _

Sylvain jerks Felix back enough to open the door and shove him through. Felix stumbles in and snarls at Sylvain, turning and ready to pounce but Sylvain beats him to it. They hit the ground with a loud thump, Felix wincing as his head makes contact with the hard floor. He swipes his claws at Sylvain only to miss and receive a cuff to the head instead. They tussle on the floor, struggling to pin the other. Felix gets a few well placed bites on the ear and a shallow scrape across his cheek. He grabs onto Sylvain’s arm hard enough to bite through his uniform jacket and button up shirt then receives a hard bite on the shoulder for it. They end up knocking over the desk chair and slamming into the side of Felix’s bed before Sylvain has him pinned. There's blood smeared across Felix’s cheek, the warm liquid drips from the puncture wounds on his ear as well. Sylvain snaps his teeth down at Felix who pushes back all while growling in retaliation. Drool runs down Sylvain’s curled lip. It’s disgusting. He  _ feels  _ disgusting, but  _ dammit  _ he needs to get his point across and apparently has to do it in the way Felix is most familiar with. The room is filled with beastly noise. They sound Feral. Sylvains surprised no ones come knocking at Felix’s door yet but he supposes most of their classmates would be too afraid. 

The bed frame smacks against the wall as Felix writhes beneath Sylvain’s hold. His legs are pinned down by the red wolf’s, twisted together enough to incapacitate Felix. Sylvain has both hands fisted in Felix’s vest. He’s pinned down and angry, cursing his smaller stature. 

_ “Fuck you!”  _ Felix spits “Get off of me!”

“Not until you  _ listen  _ to me!”

“I’ll be damned before I listen to another word any of you say. I refuse to waste my breath any longer!”

“Why are you being so  _ difficult _ ?”

Sylvain’s hands shake beneath Felix’s firm grip. Felix pulls at his wrists, struggling to break free of the red wolf's hold. 

“Why won’t you leave me alone?” he hisses 

“Because I  _ care!” _

Sylvain sees something ugly and hurt in the crumbled look on Felix’s face. His jaw trembles with it until he catches himself and snarls.

_ “Liar!” _

Something snaps in Sylvain. Anger heats his chest, bubbling over with hurt and a deep seeded fear that Felix won’t ever get it, that he’ll never  _ understand.  _ The wolf in him thrashes and whines at the thought. Panic floods through Sylvain's veins, showing itself as anger and fury.

His fist connects with Felix’s jaw before he has the forethought to stop it. Sylvain pulls him up by his vest shaking him with every word.

“ _ I care! _ ” he yells inches from the wolf's face. He pushes Felix back onto the floor, repeating the action in his hurt fueled anger “I care more than anything! I care about you more than anyone else! You're the most important thing in the world to me!” he slams Felix's body against the floor.

Felix stares back wide eyed.

“You can’t just say this shit. You matter to me. You matter so much. How dare you deny that!”

He’s panting and shaking by the time he’s finished. Felix trembles beneath him. The look on the black wolf’s face makes Sylvain’s chest ache. He's wide eyed and shaken.

Felix’s jaw is trembling again, quivering as his long lower lashes catch his tears. He tries blinking them away before they fall but Sylvain sees them. 

_ He's the only one who ever sees them. _

He silently wonders if that built in blindness applies to Felix as well.

Felix forces in a deep breath. His chest jumps at the suddenness of it. Sylvain has him pressed against his chest by the time the first tear drop falls.

"Guh-get off of me!" Felix fights with another wet inhale. His body shakes with each breath. Sylvain's arms tighten around him as he pushes against his sturdy frame.

"No, Fe."

"Why can't you leave me alone?"

Sylvain smiles down at the crown of Felix's head.

"You know why."

At his quietly spoken words a damn breaks. Felix presses his forehead roughly against Sylvains sternum, wetting his button up with tears. He pushes back against him a few times then sinks into the older wolves hold as Sylvain tightens his arms around him. Short gasping breaths wrack Felix's chest as he quietly sobs. He's probably getting snot on him and smearing blood all over Sylvains shirt but the wolf only holds him tighter. 

Felix doesn't cry the way he did as a pup. Instead of long howling sobs and whines he's almost quiet as he scrubs his face into Sylvains jacket then further up toward his neck. 

The familiar masculine scent is soothing. The newer hints of  _ schooldormsbathhouse  _ keep him in the moment and away from a too big estate with no family to live inside of it. The years of being seen as second priority, always placing after the dead weigh on him. His fallen brother's shadow barricades him from sight.

Why wouldn’t the world let him be free of it all? Of all the places why not  _ here? _

Sylvain nuzzles at the space between his ears, whispering his name and crooning at some of his deeper cries. He runs a soothing hand up and down Felix's spine. 

"What happened, Fe?"

Another nudge of Sylvains nose against the base of his dark ear. 

Felix clenches his fists around the tattered jacket being sliced through by his claws. He takes a deep breath and feels a familiar anger settling in. Sylvain lays a quick kiss at the base of his good ear.

"I.. saw my father."

Felix feels Sylvain sigh and he bristles. A slow scratch behind the ear soothes him.

“..What did he say?”

A silent  _ “this time”  _ hangs in the air. Neither regard it.

Felix audibly swallows then takes a breath, swallows again and tilts his face further away from Sylvain’s. Sylvain sits patiently running his claws through soft dark hair until Felix speaks.

“He told me to.. He asked me not to..  _ “distract” _ the Professor or the Boar.”

_ Sothis _

It takes all of Sylvains self control not to tense up or growl.

_ Goddess _

_ Of course he did. _

He takes a deep breath then lets it out slowly before dipping his head down to bury his face in Felix’s messy hair. Felix stills at the lack of answer. Sylvain knows the wolf's anxiety must be biting at him, poking at long held insecurities rising from the depths at the show of vulnerability. He needs to speak and quiet whatever voice attacks Felix for his weaknesses, but he knows better than to say anything until he has his head on straight. He needs a moment to think.

What he really needs is to tuck Felix away long enough to find Lord Rodrigue and shake him until he’s finally rid of that grief ridden tunnel vision of his and-

_ -And to  _ **_calm down._ **

He needs to calm down. 

Rodrigue isn’t evil, he isn’t  _ bad.  _

_ He’s just..  _

Sylvain takes a breath. Another. A few more passes through messy black hair with his claws, making sure to scratch at that spot behind Felix’s ears that make his eyes lid.

Once the moment passes he finally speaks.

“Your fathers an idiot.. I’m sorry, Fe.”

“I hate him.”

“No you don’t.” 

The lack of grumbling tells him he’s right. Sylvain doesn't miss the quick huff as he presses his lips between Felix’s ears.

“... I hate Faerghus.”

That ones hits a bit differently. Black tipped ears droop and tremble at the all too familiar chill curling in his chest. 

He presses his cheek against dark hair, noting the blood still dripping from the black wolf’s ear. A twinge of guilt makes the tip of his tail curl inward. 

“Yeah... Some Days I do too.”

It's more complicated than that. Far more. But he isn’t sure if he can put it into words, doesn't know if he really wants to. 

Felix sighs against Sylvain’s collarbone. They’re leaning sideways against the bed with Felix mostly pulled into Sylvain’s lap. The younger wolf flushes beautifully when he realises the position they're in with Sylvain’s arms wrapped snugly around him. Felix is glad his face is hidden. He knows how Sylvain would poke at his cheeks or wag his tail for whatever stupid reason he does.  _ Idiot _ .

He doesn’t know why Sylvain demands his time or tries to hang around as much as he does. It  _ kinda  _ makes sense-

_ But well… _

It’s probably due to his lack of self preservation or desperate need to be punished by whatever vice he’s leaning on at the moment. That makes the most sense. 

But knowing that he may be Sylvain’s latest vice is…

It makes his throat feel tighter than it should.

Felix pushes his face further into the crook of Sylvain’s neck and shoulder, wincing as it agitates the cut on his cheek and his still bleeding ear.

“I told you to leave me alone.”

The words are mumbled into skin, Sylvain feels it more than he hears them.

“I know.”

“..Why didn’t you go away?”

_ “I can’t.”  _

Is what he wants to say.

He takes the safe route instead.

“You're a smart guy, Fe, but not when it comes to yourself.”

_ You needed me. _

That earns him a huff instead of the expected growl or shove. Felix rubs his forehead against him, ears pressed back again as if mulling over the information. 

“You're one to talk.”

Sylvain chooses not to comment on that because  _ yeah, nail on the head there,  _ and maybe he’s not trying to talk about all that right now, as hypocritical as it is (as  _ he  _ is). 

( _ He knows _ .)

“Yeah… I am.”

_ Fuck _

Felix huffs into his skin, wincing yet again when he turns his head to rest his injured cheek against Sylvain. His ears are still pressed back but the dark tail draped over Sylvain’s leg is completely relaxed. 

It's nice.

_ This  _ is nice.

Felix barely moves when Sylvain’s lips brush against his hairline.

“People care about you.. You know that don’t you, Fe?”

The ebony tail swishes once against the carpet, moving to the side to curl in discomfort.

“Shut up.”

Another nuzzle and a sigh.

“You know they mean well to… You know they do. I know you do.”

There's no reply but the downward angle of his pretty pups face is answer enough.

“Even if they’re not doing it right, you know they do.”

Silence.

“And.. You know I care.. Don’t you, Fe?”

It comes out quieter than Sylvain wanted. Something in him wavers, a splash of ice water freezing his caving chest.

Felix stays quiet. Taking in a breath then slowly letting it out. 

“...I know.”

He feels the older wolf smile into the crown of his head.

“Always, Fe. Always.”

The rest goes unsaid. He knows how Felix takes time to take in these kinds of things. Knows that in a few days he’ll probably come knocking on his door and they’ll finish the conversation. Apologies will come but not until after they’ve found Mercedes and she chastises them for drawing blood as she patches them both up. He’ll kiss Felix’s cheek, lick away the blood from his wounds and hopefully get his sweet pup to let him cuddle him some more afterwards.

Things will be alright but only kind of. 

The next day Sylvain is called in with Dimitri to speak with Lord Rodrigue, the archbishop and the professor.

When Rodrigue breaks the news Sylvain feels like he’s ten years old again and being pushed back down into the well.

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> Finally finished!!
> 
> This took me so long!! I kept getting stuck and having to come back later. This was supposed to be short then took on a life of its own. As of right now I'm pretty pleased with it minus the lack of kisses and then some but... next time (:<
> 
> If you want to see more little updates and see some of my art please feel free to follow me on twitter at @ItFlare
> 
> Thank you for reading!! I really appreciate every kudo and comment /ESPECIALLY/ comments. At the risk of sounding thirsty, they make me want to write more!!!


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